Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories.

From the Blog:

CNN: Church report: Children safer from abuse; more work to do
Children in the Catholic Church are safer 10 years after the church initiated reforms in the wake of the priest abuse scandal, but there is still work to be done, according to a report delivered to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Meeting in Atlanta, the bishops heard from Al Notzon III, the chairman of the National Review Board, on the progress made 10 years after they tasked the lay group with "advising the bishops on the handling of sexual abuse of minors by clergy."

CNN: Unbelieving preachers get help to 'come out' as open atheists
Jerry DeWitt entered the ministry when he was 17, launching a 25-year career as a Pentecostal preacher. He traveled all around his home state of Louisiana, preaching and ministering wherever he could. All these years later, DeWitt, 42, is still on the road, and now takes his message all over the United States. But the nature of that message, along with his audience, has changed dramatically.

Tweet of the Day:

I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.

The New York Times: City Urges Requiring Consent for Jewish Rite
New York City health officials proposed on Tuesday that Orthodox Jewish parents be required to sign a consent waiver before they can take part in a circumcision ritual that is believed to have led to the deaths of at least two babies in the city over the past decade.

Beliefnet: Will the Game Show Network win with Bible trivia?
The Dallas shopping mall’s atrium was filled with excited hopefuls of all ages. They stood patiently in line, applications in hand, hoping to be the next nationwide TV game show winners. But on this new show they wouldn’t be answering “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” trivia. Nor would they show off their “Price Is Right” knowledge or their “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” grip on pop music. Instead, they were cramming, last minute, flipping through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Song of Solomon. And the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.

The Houston Chronicle: Southern Baptist membership drops in Texas, U.S.
Even in Texas, home to a huge Southern Baptist population and some of the denomination’s biggest megachurches, membership is dropping, while baptisms are on the rise. Across the country, the Southern Baptist Convention experienced a decline of 0.98 percent to just under 16 million, plus a dip in worship attendance and the smallest increase in the number of churches in years.

Catholic News Service: Vatican set to control new 'catholic' Internet domain
The Vatican is in line to control the new Internet address extension ".catholic" and decide who is allowed to use it. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit corporation that coordinates the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses around the world, announced the Vatican's formal application June 13 in London.

Quote of the Day:

We welcome today's statement by evangelical leaders in support of immigration reform. They, along with many others, recognize that our immigration system is broken and impacts basic human rights and dignity.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles, said Wednesday, announcing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ support for the Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform. Gomez is the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration. Read more here.

Join the conversation…

CNN: Pew survey: Doubt of God growing quickly among millennials
The percentage of Americans 30 and younger who harbor some doubts about God’s existence appears to be growing quickly, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. While most young Americans, 68%, told Pew they never doubt God’s existence, that’s a 15-point drop in just five years.

Learn how prayer changes things at prolapsed.net. See the face of god.

June 15, 2012 at 11:43 am |

Jesus

Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.

An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.

The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!

June 15, 2012 at 1:47 pm |

kindness

This is my experience... Thank you.

MY personal testimony.
A thought to consider without an ego response

Accept Jesus christ as your lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.
The world denounces truth....

Accepting Jesus Christ (for me) resulted in something like seeng a new colour. You will see it .....but will not be able to clearly explain it to anyone else..... Its meant to be that way to transend any selfism within you.

Also... much the world arranges "surrounding dark matter into something to be debated" in such a way that protects/inflates the ego.

The key is be present and transcend our own desire to physically see evidence. We don't know anyways by defending our own perception of dark matter.

Currently.... most of us are constructing our own path that suits our sin lifestyle. Were all sinners. Knowing that we are is often an issue. But both christians and non are sinners.

We don't like to Let go and let god. We want control to some degree. This is what Jesus asks us to do. "Follow me".
It's the hardest thing to do... but is done by letting the truth of scripture lead you (redemptive revelation)... as I said .

Try reading corinthians and see if it makes sense to you. Try it without a pre conceived notion of it being a fairy tale.
See the truth...
do we do what it says in todays society... is it relevant... so many have not recently read and only hinge their philosophy on what they have heard from som other person...which may have been full of arogance pride or vanity..

Just think if you can find any truth you can take with you ....in any of these things. When you die your riches go to someone who will spend away your life..... You will be forgotten.... history will repeat iteslf.... the greatest minds knowledge fade or are eventually plagerzed..... your good deeds will be forgotten and only give you a fleeting temporary reward . your learned teachings are forgotten or mutated..... your gold is transfered back to the rullers that rule you through deception. Your grave will grow over . This is truth .

Trancsend your egoism and free yourself from this dominion of satan. Understand you are a sinner and part of the collective problem of this worldly matrix... Repent.... Repent means knowing (to change) The Holy spirit (within) will convict you beyond what you think you can do by yourself. Grace is given to those who renounce the world. That are" in" the world but not "of " the world.

Faith comes by Reading or Hearing the word of god from the bible . Ask Jesus in faith for dicernment and start reading the new testament... You will be shocked when you lay down your preconceived notions and ....see and hear truth ... see how christ sets an example ... feel the truth....

Read Ecclesiastes. Read corinthians.

You cant trancend your own egoism by adapting a world philosophy to suit your needs. Seek the truth in Christ.

Sell all your cleverness and purchase true bewilderment. You don't get what you want ....you get what you are in christ.

I promise this has been the truth for me. In Jesus christ .

Think of what you really have to lose. ...your ego?

Break the Matrix of illusion that holds your senses captive.

once you do . you too will have the wisdom of God that comes only through the Holy Spirit. Saved By grace through Faith. Just like seeing a new colour.... can't explain it to a transient caught in the matrix of worldly deception.
You will also see how the world suppresses this information and distorts it

You're all smart people . I tell the truth. Its hard to think out of the box when earthly thinking is the box.
I'ts a personal free experience you can do it free anytime . Don't wait till you are about to die.. START PUTTING YOUR TREASURES WHERE THEY REALLY MATTER >
Its awsome and It's just between you and Jesus

my testimony

Romans 10:9

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved

June 14, 2012 at 3:43 pm |

TROLL ALERT

click the report abuse link to get rid of this TROLL so they'll block their IP address and they can't continue posting this garbage over and over again.

June 15, 2012 at 5:16 pm |

hippypoet

how can any believe in god with a book like that of the bible (any translation) as an advertisment to push forth a clearly ungodly agenda all the while calling it the word of the one true god? one conclusion could be that people really are this slow – lenny slow not kinetically slow!

It is useless to believe. It can be of no advantage. If christ was not raised, he was an impostor, since he repeatedly declared that he would rise Matthew 16:21; Matthew 18:22-23; Luke 9:22, and since the whole of his religion depended on that. The system could not be true unless christ had been raised, as he said he would be; and to believe a false system could be of no use to any man. The argument here is one addressed to all their feelings, their hopes, and their belief. It is drawn from all their convictions that the system was true. Were they, could they be prepared to admit a doctrine which involved the consequence that all the evidences which they had that the apostles preached the truth were delusive, and that all the evidences of the truth of christianity which had affected their minds and won their hearts were false and deceptive?

if you base your life on nothing but a thought (faith) – a dream – really its more of a hope because the only "proof" is after you die – so there really isn't any proof of anything but a load of people telling others they are wrong and going to a place of torture because THEY think its real or vice versa! ok so you have a book claiming all your bs to be true – ever read lord of the rings? books are written by men! a truth that is clearly beyond the limited scope of those whom clearly lack something in there lives. so much so that they seek out something without any merit nor even a shredd of evidence and then claim it to be more then truth but the word of god who for all intents and purposes is equal to every other make believe creature in the entire history of man-kind!

just some thoughts to think about from your friendly niehborhood hippy.
🙂

June 14, 2012 at 11:02 am |

Huebert

– lenny slow not kinetically slow!

That's awesome.

June 14, 2012 at 11:12 am |

Robert Brown

I can’t prove or provide scientific evidence for God.
Jesus refused to provide proof that he was the son of God when questioned. He knew some people would still not believe. People saw the miracles he did and still didn’t believe. He even said if someone came back from the dead and told them God, heaven, and hell are real, some still wouldn’t believe.

To others, the idea of God is illogical.
They need physical evidence. God or his actions must be measured. God’s creation is not acceptable because you can’t prove God created it. God’s interaction with us and the bible are not acceptable because they are hearsay.

We share the good news with those who are interested.
Jesus told his disciples, if people in a certain place wouldn’t hear the word, for them to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them. He said, not to cast your pearls before swine, they will turn and rend you. The truth makes them angry. It is foolishness to those without faith. It makes them angry because they don’t believe. If I tried to tell you that you should do something, that in your mind you were convinced was not true, would it make you angry if I persisted?

How can a confirmed atheist be convinced there is a God?
A person can’t convince another that there is a God. It requires the power of God. God may use someone, but it is his spirit that draws us to him. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. One plants, another waters, but it is God who gives the increase.

June 14, 2012 at 11:17 am |

hippypoet

Robert Brown

you CAN turn me to a believer – believe me, i am jealous of your beliefs.... i want anything but facts, but i find i an unable to believe anything outside of provible truth. And if god does exist, his laws and all as well, then why can't i get smoted like the non believers of old?

June 14, 2012 at 11:51 am |

Huebert

@Robert

"A person can’t convince another that there is a God. It requires the power of God."

According to that logic, god must have all the believers that he wants. Being all powerful, if he desired more believers he would have them. However, a common theme in Christian theology is that god wants everyone to believe in him and be saved. How to resolve this contradiction. One possible explanation is that the Jehovah's Witness are correct, and that heaven has a limited seating capacity. Of course the idea that an omnipotent being couldn't expand his own domain to what ever size he chose is a little ridiculous.

It could be that god is not omnipotent and that he is bound by a certain set of rules. unfortunately this then raises the problem of who wrote those rules, and then infinite regression takes over.

The most parsimonious explanation is that god doesn't exist. This is the only explanation that satisfactorily answers the question of why an omnipotent being would not be the god of everyone in the universe.

June 14, 2012 at 11:59 am |

Robert Brown

hippypoet,

The short answer for why you can't get smoted is Jesus. His birth, death, and resurection ushered in the era of grace or the new covenant.

If you are really interested in faith or belief I would wholeheartedley recommend seeking God as he instructed. Faith can be obtained by hearing the word of God preached in the power of his holy spirit. Visit some churches in your area and find one that preaches Jesus. If you are being honest and have a desire for faith you won't be disappointed.

June 14, 2012 at 1:01 pm |

Robert Brown

Huebert,

I am not a theologian either. I also have questions. Omnipotence is as good a subject as any. When God spoke to Moses using the burning bush. He said he had heard the cries of his people in Egypt. When he sent the angels to Lot to check out Sodom they said God had sent them down to see what was going on. Now if he is everwhere all the time and knows everything before it happens would he have needed to do either? I think the ominpotence may be more like he has the power to create universes, heaven, hell, life itself, angels, his holy spirit, & ect. Yet, he himself is so powerful that he can't relate to us without the use of his spirit or angels because we would be turned into ash if we saw him. He is everywhere he wants to be through his spirit and angels, but I don't know if he pays much attention to nonbelievers unless he wants to, or unless they seek him. Is that omnipotent? He can, but does he unless he wants to? I think he is able to be omnipotent, present, and so on, but exercises it only when it affects his people or his purpose.

June 14, 2012 at 1:19 pm |

HeavenSent

Jesus warned,

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13

Amen.

Notice Jesus used the word difficult when finding the narrow gate. Not easy as what the lazies have been conditioned to.

June 14, 2012 at 1:34 pm |

hippypoet

not sure i said this before or not, i have been on cnn.com for over a year – anyway – i have been going to random churches,temples, really place that worships any form of the of abraham and others – i have yet to get anywhere but where i started from – which is what i am, what i am meant to be, and what i was....only this has been gained – gained is a gift of a word for i knew all of this before i started and so i view my time as wasted only for this the reason of getting somewhere – i did meet many great people with great views but all required the very real existence of god which was something lacking and why they had a constant failure yet what they called "keeping the faith" att itude type results....something was missing or missunderstood – your take?

June 14, 2012 at 1:46 pm |

Robert Brown

I have read and posted on here for about 6 mos. myself. It is interesting but no I wasn't aware you were seeking. I encourage you to keep seeking. Don't give up.

I have also visited many churches in my life and in most I felt welcome but did not sense the spirit of God. So, I understand that some so called churches have people in them but not God. How does God get in a church? The people bring him with the holy spirit that is within them.

I could tell you anything on the internet and I am afraid it would mean very little. I certainly hope you can meet someone who you trust who can witness to you live and in person in a way that you can understand. What I mean by witness is someone who can explain to you their personal salvation or conversion experience. I could type mine on here but you don't know me and have no reason to trust me. Ultimately, you will have to hear it from someone you trust. Then you will have to trust God that he will do as he said. Then you will not be the same.

I would encourage you to continue visiting churches. I beleive you will know when you find the correct one because you will understand what the preacher or pastor is saying. The preacher and others will share with you what God has done for them. They will praise the power of God and not deny it. They wont talk about keeping the faith they will talk about how strong their faith is and how you can get it. Then you will know you are in the right place where the power of God can grow your faith. The reason I say grow is because if you are seeking you already have some faith. In other words, you believe God could be a possibility. As your faith grows it will reach a point where the spirit of God will become involved and God will find you.

June 14, 2012 at 2:24 pm |

hippypoet

"you will understand what the preacher or pastor is saying. The preacher and others will share with you what God has done for them."

you missunderstand – i never not undestood it... it always made sense to me, just never the magical way you folks thought of...see, what you call magic,so do i, but what you call acts of god – well, thats an act of magic to me....not saying magic even exists, its always a point of view! but that has become the point to many and even to me at times – the point at which we, those whom it matters, happened and how it went down – but then there is the shadow of how i saw it happen and go down....... point of view – idk

June 14, 2012 at 2:54 pm |

hippypoet

wow, you ever what you typed and say wow.... lol -magic and the word i wanted – man i idk – lol

lsd – meet god with me, show me the way , let me enlighten you
🙂

June 14, 2012 at 2:56 pm |

Robert Brown

I am glad you have some understanding. What you understand is of you. When you have Gods holy spirit what you understand will be what he gives you. You can call it magic if that helps you but I wouldn't define it that way.

Do you believe Jesus is Gods son, was crucified, and rose again to save you from your sins and reconcile you to God?
If you answered yes, then pray to God to save you right now. Trust him. Then you will have the Holy Spirit and you will know God.

If you don't believe, then faith is what you need and hearing God's word preached in the power of his holy spirit is a proven way to get it.

June 14, 2012 at 3:22 pm |

hippypoet

lol, oh thats rich!

lol

lol

lol

lol
lol
lol
lol
lol

just trying to keep this going for a min.....as much as i believe in forces – them being sciencific in nature – there is nothing beyond that but hasn't be discovered yet – god least amoungst them! maybe something we attribrute "godly quality" too but that will be it!!!

then it will be the same tired argument but with new science to be argued about!
\

gotta love irony!

June 14, 2012 at 3:35 pm |

Robert Brown

What percentage of everything there is to know, do humans know,1%, 10%, 99.99999%, less, more? Whatever % you select then decide out of that subset how much of it you know?

June 14, 2012 at 4:09 pm |

Moby Schtick

The number is extremely small, RB. But what has that to do with anything? We can KNOW that the god described in the bible does not exist because a god wouldn't be that stupid and contradictory.

June 14, 2012 at 8:30 pm |

junior

Today's reading

Gospel Mt 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother,
'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, "You fool," will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

Thank god for prolapsed .net, spreading the word and truth of our lord

June 14, 2012 at 10:35 am |

Robert Brown

Junior, great post.

How your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees = belief on the son of God. For without him what is anyone’s righteousness = filthy rags.

June 14, 2012 at 10:41 am |

HeavenSent

Phony heavensent is on the loose again, too cowardly to post under his own handle.

June 14, 2012 at 1:08 pm |

Methusalem

Attention! Attention!! The communist state is taking your children away from you!

June 14, 2012 at 9:13 am |

Huebert

Adjust your tinfoil hat. It's the crab people taking your children. They need to raise them to be members of the Illuminati so they can then properly sacrifice their children to the Mayan gods to stop the world from ending on December 12 2012.

You do PLENTY of whining, complaining and moaning about non-believers.

We're on Our Own, Folks. Make the best of it.

June 14, 2012 at 11:20 am |

HeavenSent

HATESAUCE, you are a fool as are all your fellow non-believers. Own that truth of Jesus'.

All you non-believers do is complain, change Jesus' truth for satan's lies, then move on to the next car crash as you chaos flourishes.

June 14, 2012 at 8:15 am |

A Theist

May God Bless all atheists.

June 14, 2012 at 6:26 am |

Huebert

I'm sure your god loves it when you use him in an insult.

June 14, 2012 at 9:45 am |

A Theist

May God Bless you Huebert.

June 14, 2012 at 5:41 pm |

HATESAUCE

WE NEED TO BAN CATHOLICISM AND RELIGION FROM THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE IT IS CAUSING NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT THE CATHOLIC CORPORATION CONDONES ITS PASTORS' RAPING OF CHILDREN AND THIS NEEDS TO BE PUT TO A STOP FINALLY ONCE AND FOR ALL. AND WE NEED TO EDUCATE PARENTS TO MOVE PAST THESE ARCHAIC CAVEMEN-BASED BELIEF SYSTEMS THAT HOLD ONTO MYTHOLOGY AS FACT. IT'S BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN THAT POOR PEOPLE CLING TO RELIGION THE MOST. WE NEED TO REACH OUT TO THESE BROKE INDIVIDUALS AND TELL THEM THE TRUTH. THERE IS NO GOD. NO ONE WILL HELP YOU BUT YOURSELF. GET A JOB.

June 14, 2012 at 6:13 am |

HeavenSent

Hate sounds like he's on the sauce, you need to know there's a difference of man made religions versus Jesus' truth about life and the hereafter. Jesus said to send all r-a-pists and mu-r-derers back to Him. He will handle them, not man. But, non-believers like yourself, changed the laws and now we have multiple r-a-pists and mu-r-derers sitting in prisons around the globe sentenced for life terms, that we pay for. Jesus said, let everyone see and hear what happens to r-a-pists and mu-r-derers (death), and r-apes and mu-r-ders will cease among you. The Christians didn't change these laws, non-believers did. The upper echelon of the RCC are the biggest non-believers that come out of your camp.

June 14, 2012 at 6:48 am |

HATESAUCE

CHRISTIANITY IS MAN-MADE. JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER RELIGIONS CHRISTIANITY IS BASED ON. HEAVENSENT. I HAVE SEEN YOU AROUND HERE PLENTY. IT'S OBVIOUS YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A TROLL. DEFINITELY NOT A REAL CHRISTIAN.

June 14, 2012 at 8:02 am |

HeavenSent

Sauce, all you do is whine. When you walk through the fires in life instead of causing them, we'll talk.

June 14, 2012 at 8:28 am |

Huebert

@Hatesauce

Did you know that if you type in all caps it makes your argument more valid?

June 14, 2012 at 9:36 am |

Bo

@HATESAUCE: Where is your “scientifically proven” evidence “that poor people cling to religion the most”?

June 14, 2012 at 9:39 am |

junior

Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church alongside the Holy Bible on what Catholics believe before you go spreading stupid allegations.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.